Rand Paul’s Tea Party Manifesto

This weekend I had a chance to read Rand Paul’s new book, The Tea Party Goes to Washington. It is a much bolder book than Rand skeptics would have expected, and it is also a strategically clever book, for reasons I’ll get to in a moment. To be sure, Rand’s anecdotes from the campaign trail and from his days as a boy growing up in the Paul household are well executed and engaging, rather than cloying and phony as in so many political books. More importantly, Senator Paul is willing to stake out positions—on the Patriot Act, the U.S. Constitution, the federal budget, Austrian economics, and so on—that are not exactly standard fare for a man in his position.

To begin with, I found Rand’s discussion of his campaign for the Republican nomination interesting and revealing. I did not realize the full extent to which the Republican establishment initially shut him out—at least until it became obvious he was a winner, at which point many of them couldn’t hop onto the bandwagon fast enough. I did recall Dick Cheney’s endorsement of Trey Grayson, the empty suit who opposed Rand in the primary. “I’m a lifelong conservative,” said the former vice president, “and I can tell the real thing when I see it.” That is, Cheney saw “conservatism” in a wooden, uninspired, business-as-usual, entirely safe man of the establishment. I happened to know the calculatingly inoffensive Grayson in my college days; we were both in Harvard’s class of ’94. A nice enough guy, but no one ever knew where he stood on anything. He must have been grooming himself even then.

Grayson was supposed to win. He had the party machine—which was all too happy to endorse someone so obviously uninterested in rocking the boat—fully behind him. And he lost, badly.

Rand can justifiably describe himself as a Tea Party candidate, for it was well outside the GOP establishment that he found his initial popular support. With this book, he capitalizes on that position to lay out the kind of positive vision that critics have claimed is lacking in Tea Party complaints. And here lies the strategic value of the book. Rand writes with the confidence of someone drafting a manifesto. He does not tell the Tea Party, “This is what you should believe.” Rand seems to suggest, without being obnoxious, that these things are what the Tea Party already believes. He discusses even the most controversial budget-slashing proposal as a matter of common sense, a logical consequence of the Tea Party’s overriding concern with debt and deficits. Intentional or not, Rand takes this opportunity to push the Tea Party into a more self-consciously Old Right direction—but without burning the bridges to figures and outlets who befriended him during the campaign.

The foreign-policy chapter, the book’s longest, is also its best and boldest. Rand dismisses the fourth-grade propaganda fed to the American public in the name of the War on Terror, citing and quoting at length from figures on his father’s recommended reading list for Rudy Giuliani. He has no patience for the messianic rhetoric by which the Iraq War was sold, and argues that the neoconservative foreign-policy program is not conservative at all. That may not be news to readers of this site, but when was the last time we heard such a thing from a U.S. senator who has the ear of much of the right-leaning public?

Rand’s rhetoric and even some of his positions are not identical to those of his father, to be sure. I am not in complete agreement with him myself. But had he come out of nowhere, the Old Right—who made no idols of politics or politicians—would have been delighted that such a figure had managed, in defiance of the neoconservatives, to break into the U.S. Senate. His budget proposal, his non-opportunistic support for auditing the Fed, and his opposition to the Patriot Act—all of which he pursued within a month of taking office—make him the best Republican officeholder outside his father. (Faint praise, I know.) He is planted firmly in the Taft wing of the Republican Party, which even the libertarian Circle Bastiat cheered against the internationalists and, later, the neocons.

One of the most encouraging things about the book is that Rand was assisted in drafting it by Jack Hunter, the young radio host, columnist, and TAC videoblogger who has done such excellent work on behalf of liberty and the message of Ron Paul. (Here’s Jack on the juvenile stunt Young Americans for Freedom pulled on Ron Paul in the wake of the CPAC straw poll earlier this month.) Jack is as far as one can get from the party establishment, and it is to him that Rand turned for assistance in drafting his manifesto. That has to be good news.

Tom, this is an awesome review! How crazy that you knew Grayson during his college years. And now, after all his hemming and hawing about his undying love for Kentucky, he runs back up to Harvard to teach. As someone who is originally from Massachusetts, I can tell y’all with great certainty that Trey will fit right into the scene in the People’s Republic of Cambridge.

I like Rand’s positions, and if the “tea party” were to adaopt his world view, I might be able to count myself onboard.

However, I believe the “Tea Party” is a Republican attempt to hyjack the energy of a grassroots uprising of Independants who are sick of the compromise. The Republicans want federal big-government international military adventurism, the Democrats want federal big-government wealth distribution (and the ‘pubs want their corporate welfare, and the dems want their international expeditionism.)

The folks that the ‘pubs want to use their cowboys (and rodeo clowns) to wrangle, want our federal government to return to its Constitutional confines. We’ve got State (and even local) governments to try and nanny us around.

When one side is moving toward big-government, and the other side is also moving to the same place, the compromise is still unacceptable to those of us who would argue the goal markers should occasionally move in the opposite direction.

Rand might not compromise his positions, but I have very little hope that the Republicans who owe their elections to the “tea party” will have the same fortitude.

One thing is sure ~ Republicans who continue the move to the left had better watch out in ’12.

All 10 planks to the Communist Manifesto are in place in America. The Income Tax,Inheritance Tax,Central Banking and Credit,Public Education and so forth. Unless one by one these Ten Planks are torn out of the American political structure and buried in the trash heap of history nothing will change. Rand Paul is a breath of fresh of air, but time is running out. America is heading for an abyss that will destroy whats left of our Constitutional Liberties and our way of life. I hope that Rand Paul and his father Ron aren’t just “voices in the wilderness.” Americans who still cling to the hope of a Constitutional revival and a return to political sanity will be watching Rand Paul’s moves carefully. I do hope it is not too late or too futile.

Hmmm…
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equitable distribution of the population over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production.[12]

Ron and Rand Paul are the best politicians in the U.S. They are the only people offering REAL change and real HOPE for the future. The Neo-Cons have hijacked the right and turned it into a purely Warfare State bomb-loving warmonger party and the left is totally controlled by Welfare state lovers of Big Government.

It is time to say no to the conniving Neo-Cons, RINOs, and Big Government loving socialists. It is time to bring in the Constitution, liberty, freedom, the Bill of Rights, and a respectful foreign policy not based upon dropping JDAMS on civilians and giggling about it.

Blowing up foreigners does not make you righteoust, godly, tough, cool, or just.

TO NICK DANGER…..To see how all of the 10 Planks to the Communist Manifesto has been folded into the American Society,please google the “George Gordon School of Common Law.” It explains how the process took place. In reality it is Communism light,but still it is Communism.The article is called,”Are you a practicing Communist?”

I cannot beleive that Americans constantly rehash this nonsense as serious political option. ‘Communist Manifesto’. For goodness sake grow up and face the realities of the World. Most Americans would not know a communist if he met one. All this childish rhetoric as the USA sinks into history. Without doubt the most corrupt. I am sure this will not be published.

What is both strange and frustrating to me, is that when all of the pundits and talking heads on the major news channels discuss cutting govt. spending or govt. waste or whatever, they trot out folks like Paul Ryan and not Rand Paul. I watch Morning Joe on MSNBC every morning, and they harp on and on about how there’s nobody out there talking seriously about tackling entitlement reform, cutting govt. spending, balancing the budget etc. Sometimes they’ll throw out a reference to Paul Ryan or others. But they act as if the Pauls (Ron and Rand) don’t exist! It incenses me to listen to them babble on about how “nobody” is willing to stick his neck out and talk about tackling the “big issues.” Which is of course complete BS, they just ignore the people who are doing exactly that!! Would that The American Conservative had its own cable news channel – or that the issues and people taken up and examined by this excellent magazine were discussed on a more mainstream forum at least. Thanks for the review!

After Cheney the biggest name to back Greyson was former Senator Rick Santorum. Unlike his attempt to save Arlen Specter in 2004, he was unsuccessful. Primary voters need to remember this in 2012 when Rick will campaign as the true conservative.

The content of these dialogues lack any sense of reality in regard to the economic and social life of the majority of the American People. The principles and practices of the Founding Fathers are as dead as the dodo. Besides which the American People lack the moral fibre to carry out anything that does not make a Dollar.The country was ill-founded; the metaphysical foundations were suspect to begin with. The American Republic is floundering in the seas of its own self deception

Nick Danger’s comment seem correct. No more alarmists needed in areas where there is little danger. Enough real issues to be concerned over.
The Pauls’ both make sense to me That said I’m not certain as to the intentions or capabilities of the Islamic extremists and we may yet have to defeat them militarily,but the US is not having much success and to continue losing blood and treasure isn’t smart or fair to our troops or our citizens footing the bill. It seems to me that we should adopt a wait and see attitude.If the Iranians and/or Sunni equivalents take over the middle east and threaten us or don’t sell us oil at a reasonable price then we may have to confront them militarily but that may not be neccessary. If the Israelis take them down or if the fanatics destroy themselves that’s OK . As for US policy going forward I think let’s a time out to get our own house in order is wise and more Rand Paul’s in gov’t will increase the chances of that happening. Ever since Carter our gov’t has been preaching about energy independence and has failed to act. Maybe now is the time to drill here and get serious re nuclear power.May even stimulate our own economy.

41% of Americans work for various levels of government. Most of the rest work for corporations. Once Washington is able to seize the last remaining source of money (401K funds), they will own the corporations and most everyone will then be an employee of the government. I think this presents us with de-facto Communism.

Obama may call it guaranteed retirement accounts, however, just like a salivating dog lusts after raw meat, accumulated wealth is a target just too tempting to resist.

Of course he can. That’s why he wanted to stay the hell away from the real thing – Rand Paul.

What we have is closer to a form of socialism than communism, or, if you will, an “indirect” communism. So for instance, while the US State does not have control of No. 6 through direct ownership, the state has indirect control through the FCC, the DOT, the FAA, etc. Or, for example with No. 1, we have a “latent” communism – the means are there, they just have not been executed yet (see, eg. the Kelo decision – use of eminent domain powers for redistribution to favored (by the gov’t) private actors).

I was entirely skeptical of Rands approach but I have to admit he is both not a carbon copy of his father AND getting some important ideas out there. I pretty much didn’t like him at first because he wasn’t the former.

I love Israel, both as a Jew and a Christian (I am both). Yet I have absolutely no qualms about ending foreign aid to Israel along with the whole package of foreign aid. But you wrote I$rael in your comment. Why, fella? You don’t really thing Israel needs our money do you?! Israel has never wanted foreign aid from anybody. Your ignorance of Israel is showing. You hate Jews and Christians? Fine. Then your hatred of Israel is natural. Geh gesunt. Amen.

I was wondering when this would turn into an us vs neocons, which I presume is another word for Jews. Me, I’m just an observer on the sidelines recollecting history and how this country is experiencing a Weimar Republic moment. It seems like the good old United States is in for a lesson in poverty. It happened to the Germans in 1923, and it’s about to happen here. Doesn’t history repeat itself?

Ben and other raise the question of Israel…Yes let’s face it …Israel is a large part of the problem in the ME.
The rapacious Zionist settlers driving the Palestinians from their land ,as we speak,are a big part of the problem
Ironic isn’t it that in Liebermann the Israel foreign Minister, and the rest of the Likud gang, one sees a sort of identikit fascist/militarist politicians..and a racists to boot.
So much for Israel being a light to the world !!!
The sooner we are rid of the “Lobby’s “evil influence on the White House the better…but don’t hold your breath

The left says all the Communists have disappeared-yet somehow they can find “fascists” and “Nazis” everywhere. Google “how the left won the cold war” by Prof. Gottfried and “Is pc worse than communism” by Srdja Trifkovic. They’re both available in video.